Frame based office panelling systems provide a very valuable system for subdividing a large office space into individual work stations. The office space is easily rearranged from time to time to accommodate a completely different layout. These office panelling systems typically use office panels which have a frame structure to which releasable elements are secured. These releasable elements are normally rectangular in shape and when removed from the frame, expose a hollow interior of the panel.
Teknion Furniture Systems offers such a frame based panelling system and the structure of this panelling system is generally shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,577 which is incorporated herein by reference.
Frame based office panelling systems do provide for convenient distribution of both electrical power and communication wires to the individual work stations and also provide flexibility to reconfigure the work space.
Desking systems provide an alternate approach and are more common in Europe. The desks or work tables provide the support structure and light-weight screening members can be attached to the work surfaces to provide visual privacy.
Teknion Furniture Systems also offers a combined office panelling system and desking system which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,928 which is incorporated herein by reference. This system allows desks or other work surfaces to be attached to an office panelling system and to depart from the panelling system at a point intermediate to the length of a panel.
In addition to these two basic types of office systems, there have always been separate stand alone conference tables which can move about the office to suit the particular needs of the users. In addition, there have been mobile file storage units and mobile computer stations to allow many different users to use the equipment from time to time.
Prior to frame based office panelling systems, it was known to have a cooperating free standing partition screens which typically had a fixed core, such that access to the interior of the partition was not available. These screens could support different office accessories, either from the top of the screen or from the vertical edges of the screens.